Rubio, a former postal worker, brings to life the important but neglected story of African American postal workers and the critical role they played in the U.S. labor and black freedom movements. Having fought their way into postal positions and unions, black postal workers--often college-educated military veterans--became a critical force for social change. Centered on New York City and Washington, D.C., the book chronicles a struggle of national significance through its examination of the post office, a workplace with facilities and unions serving every city and town in the U.S.

Introduction -- Who worked at the post office (before 1940)? -- Fighting Jim Crow at home during World War II (1940-1946) -- Black-led movement in the early Cold War (1946-1950) -- Fighting Jim Crow and McCarthyism (1947-1954) -- Collapsing Jim Crow postal unionism in the 1950s (1954-1960) -- Interesting convergences in the early sixties post office (1960-1963) -- Black women in the 1960s post office and postal unions (1960-1969) -- Civil rights postal unionism (1963-1966) -- Prelude to a strike (1966-1970) -- The great postal wildcat strike of 1970 -- Post-strike (1970-1971) -- Epilogue -- Conclusion.